An international study led by Curtin University has revealed new insights into how an ancient flying reptile was preserved in extraordinary detail for 113 million years \u2013 offering a rare glimpse into a vanished world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That the fossilised wing phalanx of a prehistoric pterosaur, found in northeastern Brazil, was so remarkably preserved in three dimensions – even retaining chemical traces hinting at its diet \u2013 is thanks to the action of special bacteria and a unique ancient marine environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lead author Kliti Grice<\/a>, a John Curtin Distinguished Professor and founding Director of the Western Australian Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre at Curtin, said the findings open a new window into fossil formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis fossil is a true time capsule \u2014 not only is it beautifully preserved, but for the first time we\u2019ve detected traces of steroids in a pterosaur, providing further evidence that these creatures likely fed on fish or squid,\u201d Professor Grice said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt also marks the first time molecules have been recovered from a pterosaur fossil, revealing new clues about its diet and highlighting the growing potential of molecular palaeontology to unlock secrets from deep time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSteroid preservation in fossils is exceptionally rare but what\u2019s even more fascinating is that our findings challenge long-held ideas about fossil preservation itself. Rather than being destroyed by oxygen, some fossils are preserved because of it, through oxidative processes carried out by ancient microbiomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfter this pterosaur died and sank to the seabed, a perfect storm of chemistry, biology and the environment worked to seal its story in stone. Microbes, including sulfur-oxidising bacteria, began breaking down the soft tissue and fats and triggered mineralisation around the body – a process that, over time, helped preserve its structure in incredible detail for more than 100 million years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pterosaurs were flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs and were the first vertebrates to master powered flight, with some species reaching wingspans of up to 12 metres. Like modern birds, they had hollow bones, which in certain environmental conditions increased the changes of exceptional fossil preservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor Grice said the team\u2019s research reveals a new pathway for remarkable fossil preservation, offering fresh insights into ancient life and the unique environmental conditions that enable such remarkable fossilisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It adds to the growing evidence that tiny microbes played a big role in this process – something we are now identifying at other fossil sites – presenting a new global Lagerst\u00e4tten mechanism – the special conditions that make exceptional preservation possible,\u201d Professor Grice said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The study, conducted in collaboration with researchers from Brazil, Germany and the USA, including colleagues from the Regional University of Cariri and Museu Nacional \/ Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, used advanced imaging and geochemical techniques at Curtin\u2019s John de Laeter Centre<\/a> and WA-Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre<\/a> to unravel how the pterosaur lived and how it was preserved in such remarkable detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The paper, \u2018<\/em><\/a>Multi-staged mineralization and biomarker preservation in a 113-million-year-old pterosaur bone via local redox shifts in diagenesis\u2019<\/em>, is published in Iscience<\/em>: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.isci.2026.116199<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This research was supported by a prestigious ARC Laureate Fellowship<\/a> awarded to Professor Grice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A short video explaining the research and including animated vision of the pterosaurs can be viewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n